Such an odd title. I would think that "Kirby's"
(possessive) Canvas Curse would be better.

Hal Laboratories has never been known for great games. Since they are a lab, they are more used to cloning monkeys and dissecting rats than making games. But when Nintendo tells them to make a Kirby game, they do because they need to keep the money coming in for their monkey cloning! And thus we have Kirby Canvas Curse for the DS.

Hail screens stolen from the internet! You must touch enemies
with the stylus before Kirby can touch them to defeat them.

Graphics: 6/10
Hal has never been known for great graphics. They don't like to spend too much time making the game. The graphics here are fair but not often much more. The game is presented 2D style! There is some rotation and multiple layers of scrolling, but the far background layer never scrolls in any direction ever, and there is only one layer on top of that. There is nothing here that the Gameboy Advance could not do with extreme ease. The game is played on the bottom screen and the top screen is used for a map and vital statistics. The map is very helpful, but it is NOT a good idea to ever take your eyes off of the bottom screen in the later, hectic stages! You'll know exactly what I mean once you get up there. The sprites are drawn well, but a few of the backgrounds themselves seem kind of sloppy, as in poor artwork. That's what happens when you ask scientists to draw.

Why do the internet pictures have a
much bigger life bar? I WANT!!!!

Sound: 5/10
Hal has never been known for great sound and music. The music here is typical Kirby, which basically means crap. Nobody on the planet likes Kirby music, nobody. Not even one individual. No one at all. If you think you like Kirby music, then you are probably possessed by the devil or maybe Bill Cosby. Actually some of the music is decent and almost even good, but others sound like notes just randomly thrown together without structure of any kind. The sound effects are adequate and get the job done and there is even a SURROUND setting in the options screen if you want to hook your DS up to a Dolby Pro Logic II sound system. You can unlock more music with medals, and the special music sounds much better than the game music. I don't know why they just didn't use that stuff for the game. The Gameboy Advance could easily do all of the sound in this game with ease, with the exception of the DS's unique stereo effect.

Kirby can do loop-de-loops, which automatically makes
this game the best game ever made starring Kirby.

Gameplay: 7/10
Hal is usually known for its mediocrity, but at least the gameplay is fun! You must guide Kirby where to go by drawing lines, popping blocks and lots of other crap I don't feel like describing. Kirby is a lame character, the lamest ever to come out of Japan ever. OK not as bad as Dragon BallZ, Gundam or Naruto, but still pretty bad. Everyone hates him (except again, Bill Cosby). But if the game is fun people like Clint Eastwood and myself will play even if the main character is unappealing to the average sane individual. Kirby is designed to appeal to 1-3 year olds. But this game is much too difficult for 1-3 year olds. I'd put this one in the TEEN category on difficulty. The first few levels are easy, but the upper levels demand that you concentrate on many things at the same time and be ultra-fast and accurate with the stylus. Sometimes when the screen is scrolling by itself you can accidentally draw Kirby into a corner and you have to wait for your line to disappear before he can escape, and he usually dies when this happens. Kirby can get abilities that he uses when you touch him, like a lightning bolt or a rock to sink, and even a super mega combo attack from God (use this one on level 6 where the screen scrolls itself and you must pop a bunch of bomb-walls without the luxury of time). Sometimes when you want to touch him and activate his power, you draw a line instead, or vice-versa. It can be annoying when Kirby's mode is enabled (such as the rock) and you want to draw a line but accidentally touch Kirby instead, turning him back to normal, floating Kirby.

Most of the levels seem too long for me. I hate long levels in ANY game, really. That's not to say that I prefer short, tiny levels. Medium is perfect. And of course there are bosses. Why must every game have bosses? There is one boss which will remind you of that one Castlavania game for the DS which made you draw lines in order to defeat bosses. You have to do the same thing here as you did in that game, so it will feel familiar. That is the only boss in this game that I actually like, by the way. There is also a fun rolling jump which you do after you complete a level. It's very hard and I haven't even made it to 1000 feet (or whatever units they measure it in) yet. I would like to see that as an unlockable minigame, but I guess I suck too much. You collect medals and use them to unlock music and other crap like that. I don't really care about that kind of stuff. There are also your typical speed runs and boss modes and stuff like that. You'll be cursing like terrorists do at America when Kirby is underwater (the developers LOVE to implement this all over the game as much as they can) or when you have to keep torches lit to see what you are doing (the terrorists... err I mean developers love this as well). It is pretty fun to play, but it sure can get hectic! You need to try this game, or you are BANNED for a day.

And here's how the game REALLY looks on my DS.
Notice the tiny life bar. I got the shaft!

Wrap up:
Hal has never been known for great wrap ups. This is a good game and even better if it is a gift! Out of the 10 or so DS titles that are actually in stores, this is one of 3 or 5 you should own! Also be sure to play Hal's Hole-in-One Golf for the Super Nintendo, which is Hal's best game ever! Their worst might be Hyperzone or one of the other Kirby games.

Hal used to excel at music (Arcana, Alcahest, etc.) because over 50% of their school training was devoted entirely to the process of composing music. I'm sure that it wasn't originally in their best interests to become acquired by Nintendo only to drone out one Kirby title after another. It would've been awesome if they'd been allowed to forge their own concepts. But you saying that Hal has always sucked at composing is just wrong and the right thing for you to do would be to write Hal an apology, send them your paycheck, your DS, and your girlfriend as well.

I agree that most of it isn't that great, but there are a few songs that really take me back to my childhood when I used to play Kirby Super Star, the Dreamland series, Kirby's Avalanche, Kirby's Dream Course... Man, they really weren't that great, but some of those tunes just stuck in my head for years. Most of all 04.

yes, that CD is aweful. I only listened to it to make Joe Redifer happy. But he is never happy so it was a waste of time. We could have been listening to Shooting Battle II instead. It is so bad that it is sitting on the floor of my car without any protection. I dare say it will be in my garbage the next time I clean my car.
Anyways this game is more fun now that I've played passed 5%. I do like it and it can be frustrating at times but still fun. I hope HAL makes a Smash Bros for DS. Or maybe a Kirby's Dream course II. Or even better a new Kirby block ball or Kirby pinball.